Today in History

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, May 30, 2009

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, June 1, the 152nd day of 2009. There are 213 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 1, 1813, the mortally wounded commander of the U.S. frigate Chesapeake, Capt. James Lawrence, said, "Don't give up the ship" during a losing battle with a British frigate, the HMS Shannon, during the War of 1812.

On this date:

In 1533, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was crowned as Queen Consort of England.

In 1792, Kentucky became the 15th state of the union.

In 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state.

In 1868, James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, died near Lancaster, Pa., at age 77.

In 1909, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opened in Seattle. (The fair closed the following October.)

In 1943, a civilian flight from Portugal to England was shot down by the Germans during World War II, killing all 17 people aboard, including actor Leslie Howard.

In 1958, Charles de Gaulle became premier of France, marking the beginning of the end of the Fourth Republic.

In 1979, the short-lived state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia came into existence.

In 1980, CNN made its debut.

In 1989, former Sunday school teacher John E. List, sought for almost 18 years in the slayings of his mother, wife and three children in Westfield, N.J., was arrested in Richmond, Va. (List was later sentenced to life in prison; he died March 21, 2008.)

Ten years ago: An American Airlines MD-82 landed off-center during a severe thunderstorm in Little Rock, Ark., and barreled off the end of the runway, breaking apart and catching fire; 11 people, including the captain, died. President Bill Clinton ordered a government investigation into whether -- and how -- the entertainment business was marketing violence to children. (In a report released in September 2000, federal regulators said the movie, video game and music industries aggressively marketed to underage youths violent products that carried adult ratings.)

Five years ago: A federal judge declared the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional, saying the measure infringed on women's right to choose. (The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in April 2007.) Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, a powerful Sunni Muslim tribal leader and critic of the U.S.-led occupation, was named president of Iraq's incoming government. Historian-biographer William Manchester died in Middletown, Conn., at age 82.

One year ago: Hillary Rodham Clinton won a lopsided, but largely symbolic, victory in Puerto Rico's presidential primary. Fire ripped through a lot at Universal Studios. At least eight people suffocated at an overcrowded stadium in Monrovia during a soccer match between host Liberia and Gambia. NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander took its first practice scoop of Martian soil. Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent died in Paris at age 71.

Thought for Today: "Patience! Patience! Patience is the invention of dullards and sluggards. In a well-regulated world there should be no need of such a thing as patience." -- Grace King, American author (1852-1932).